Ali Hussein is someone I have known for close to three decades since we first met and worked together at 3mice Interactive Media (3mice), arguably Kenya’s first digital marketing agency in 2001 (I think?). He and I worked closely in 3mice’s business development department where we spent many days and nights with a highly talented and hard-working team essentially pitching, winning, and managing premium clients for a range of website and online marketing services at the time. As events would have it, even after both Ali and I moved on from 3mice, we remained fast friends and we have been in each other’s lives ever since.

Ali is someone that I have leaned on quite often in life when things are good and bad. He is also one of the few people who like me sees the world not for what it is but what it can be through the lens of the incredibly potent perspectives made possible by the transformative power of existing and nascent technologies. Indeed we have often joked how we are now ‘wazee wa digital’ in Kenya which in direct translation from Kiswahili means ‘the old men of digital’ in English. We have been doing stuff in this space for so long that we can talk of significant milestones with clarity going back decades.

More recently, after a career spanning marketing, data analysis, and transportation, Ali has managed to become probably Kenya’s and Africa’s most formidable thought leader in the fintech space – that convergence of financial services and technologies that are transforming the African continent at scale for consumers, businesses, and governments. Indeed, Ali has also made a name himself on Linkedin where I often joke with him that he has hacked their algorithm as ‘Ali Hussein of Linkedin’ as legions follow his incisive and thought-provoking insights on all things technology in Africa, and beyond – but where his passion for all matters fintech is palpable!

In our conversation, Ali and I spoke for around an hour making this probably my longest podcast to date. We talked about how he got his start in marketing, technology, and even data analytics which all connected the dots to lead him to where he is today from his first encounter with typewriters and computers at University. We spoke at length about what he sees happening in the Kenyan and African fintech space with some ideas around where the current cryptocurrencies fallout is headed. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did so grab a coffee or a drink of your preference and have an engaging listen here!